Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Smallville: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Into the Darkness.

NOTE: As of this review, the first five seasons of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar's long-running superhero TV series Smallville, exploring the early adventures of Clark Kent (Tom Welling), are only available on Blu-ray as part of Warner Bros.' 2021 Complete Series boxed set. Originally airing between 2001-2006, these episodes now sport new 1080p transfers and lossless audio, as well as most of the legacy bonus features contained on the original DVD sets.

Building on the strengths of its breakout second year -- a nod to the more substantial character arcs and serialized storytelling, not its already-sizeable audience -- Season 3 of Smallville can be seen by many fans as the darkest leg of the journey yet. It's a dramatic season that still stays true to the franchise's hopeful, optimistic roots, again picking up three months after the Season 2-ending "Exodus" with Clark coming to terms with his place in the world. There's a fine balance achieved between stand-alone episodes and those that drive the series' expanding mythology forward, not to mention great character moments, new welcomes, and a few bittersweet departures. The introduction of Perry White (played masterfully by Michael McKean) as someone far removed from a brazen newspaper editor-in-chief is a season highlight, with a farewell for Clark's pal Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) marking an effective but short-sighted decision by the creative team; he was a great character that should've stuck around a lot longer. Jonathan Kent (John Schneider, AKA "best TV dad ever") also earns a memorable arc, and the emergence of Chloe (Allison Mack) as a flawed character is handled well... or at least better than Mack's own personal life during the last decade. Whoops!

But the most memorable moments are the bookends: Smallville reached an early series peak with the solid three-punch combo started in Season 2 closer "Exodus" and continuing with "Exile" and "Phoenix", including a short but memorable stretch with Clark as long-haired bad boy that might've fallen completely flat in the wrong hands. At the other side of the stack, season finale "Covenant" caps off the darkness with a final montage of Lionel Luthor's cruelty and a very memorable (and 100% real) head-shaving. Speaking of Lionel's cruelty, other standout episodes this season include "Shattered" (Lex endures electro-shock therapy that makes him forget some rough family history), "Extinction" (the direct follow-up to "Phoenix" in which Clark's classmate Van McNulty [Jesse Metcalfe] goes into peak bully mode), and the already- mentioned "Perry", which really might be the single-greatest supporting character introduction...until Season 4, of course, when a certain strong-willed future Daily Planet reporter finally shows up.

It's a solid run of episodes with a few clunkers (including "Magnetic", which proves that "Lana Lang as a bad girl" probably sounded better on paper) but more than a few that score highly within the entire series' run, even if all that darkness does get a bit overbearing at times. All 23 episodes are once again spread across four discs, some of which include deleted scenes and audio commentaries -- see below for a list of those bonus features and more.

Episode List:

• Disc One

• "Exile"
• "Phoenix"
• "Extinction"
• "Slumber"
• "Perry"
• "Relic"

• Disc Two

• "Magnetic"
• "Shattered"
• "Asylum"
• "Whisper"
• "Delete"
• "Hereafter"

• Disc Three

• "Velocity"
• "Obsession"
• "Resurrection"
• "Crisis"
• "Legacy"
• "Truth"

• Disc Four

• "Memoria"
• "Talisman"
• "Forsaken"
• "Covenant"

Smallville: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Season 3 closely follows the upgraded visual template of Smallville's second year, with its improved visuals thanks to a switch to HD finishing that lets the series' 35mm roots shine. Not surprisingly, this year's darker tone translated to a literally darker image at regular intervals, one with colder and more muted colors that stand in stark contrast to the series' traditionally warmer hues which are still in force during scenes set in and around the rural town. The colorful familiarity of Smallville HS, with its bold school colors of red and yellow, offer a comfortable familiarity... and a fun little trivia nugget: the school where it was shot would eventually adopt those colors officially. As always, skin tones look accurate within individual lighting schemes, and the increased depth and fine detail first seen in Season 2 are once again placed at the forefront. Same goes for natural film grain, which is present but unobtrusive during all but the darkest scenes, which can become a little noisy at times but the balance is handled well. As with previous seasons, these episodes get plenty of room to breathe and run at a fairly high bit rate, alleviating most compression-related issues although mild banding can be seen on strong gradients and heavier visual effects shots. Still, this is a very strong effort that, much more often than not, falls right in line with Smallville's evolving aesthetic.

Smallville: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much like the first two years, Season 3 enjoys a hefty sonic upgrade over its DVD counterpart by launching from a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mix to a full-fledged DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. (In typical Warner Bros. fashion, lossless 2.0 is unfortunately not an option, so I've again docked it a half- point.) Either way, I doubt fans will mind: I was impressed with the DVD's 2.0 mix back in the day and this presentation expands upon it in a tasteful but robust manner, offering a few nicely-prioritized discrete effects and channel pans alongside the front-loaded dialogue and era-specific music cuts. Superpowers, special effects, and the like are often more immersive than the real-world material while still blending in nicely within the series' particular sonic boundaries. Much like its visuals, Smallville's audio gets evenmore ambitious as the series progresses, so consider this a pretty great follow-up to the first season in all key areas.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during all episodes and applicable bonus features.

Smallville: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This four-disc set is packaged in a hinged keepcase with cover art similar to the original DVD release. No booklet is included, although episode names and extras are listed on the collage-heavy inner print. On-disc bonus features mirror those found on the original DVD set, although one DVD-ROM-based extra (an "Interactive Comic Book") is not accounted for.

• Audio Commentaries for "Exile" (featuring actor Michael Rosenbaum, along with executive producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Greg Beeman and Ken Horton), "Truth" (actors Allison Mack and John Glover, along with episode director James Marshall), and "Memoria" (Rosenbaum, Gough, Millar, Beeman, and Horton)

• Deleted Scenes for "Exile", "Slumber", "Shattered", "Velocity", "Obsession", "Resurrection", "Crisis", "Memoria", "Talisman", and "Forsaken"

• Producing Smallville: The Heroes Behind The Camera - A mid-length cast and crew featurette.

• The Chloe Chronicles, Volume 2 - More fun with Allison Mack.

• Gag Reel

Smallville: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The darkest year of Smallville to date (literally and figuratively), Season 3 nonetheless serves up some of the series' best episodes as it attempts to break new ground with stronger mythology and a few choice stand-alone episodes to boot. With what many consider to be the series' best season (if not era) right around the corner, though, this year's episodes are almost doomed to be underrated but most still hold up well in hindsight. Warner Bros.' belated Blu-ray presentation follows suit with another rock-solid A/V presentation and ports over all but one of the DVD-era bonus features, which makes for a satisfying package overall. Recommended to fans and first-timers alike.